Ski training device



Sept. 22, 1970 s. A. AIJALA SKI TRAINING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l FiledAug. 6, 1968 INVENTOR SULO A. AIJALA flaw Wm ATTORNEYS p 7 s. A. AIJALA3,529,818

SKI TRAINING DEVICE Filed Aug. 6. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f2 57 43 r I 4/|NVENTOR SULO A. AlJALA Mia ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,529,818SKI TRAINING DEVICE Sulo A. Aijala, Attleboro, Mass., assignor toIntricate Machine & Engineering Inc., a corporation of MassachusettsFiled Aug. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 750,609 Int. Cl. A63b 21/04, 23/04 U.S. Cl.272-57 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ski training device having afoot supporting carriage for each foot of the user. Attached to theunderside of the carriage are downwardly extending pins which passthrough arcuate slots in the deck of the base and said pins bear againstarms rotatably mounted in the base. The carriages are rotatably mountedon spindles extending upwardly through the deck of the base and enablethe feet to be relatively moved from a position parallel to each otherto position with the toes turned out or toes turned in or swung togetherfrom a parallel position either to the right or left with all therelative movements of the pins attached to the bottom of the carriagesdirected against said rotatable arms and said movements being resistedby springs attached to the arms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In skiing many muscles are used which do notin the ordinary course of living develop to the extent necessary toproperly ski, and this apparatus is for use in strengthening thosemuscles used in sking and for simulating the conditions of actual skioperation. Various attempts have been made to provide a foot exerciserto strengthen the muscles used in certain torsion movements in skiingwhich have often resulted in rather complicated mechanisms or mechanismswhich did not achieve the desired result. If complicated the expense wasso increased as to make them prohibitive to all but a few.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A base which is raised from a support bydownwardly extending flanges has on its upper surface two pivotallymounted foot supporting carriages which are adjustable for varying sizesof shoes or feet. The carriages are restrained in their pivotal movementby springs located beneath the base with some means extending from thecarriage through the base and connected to the springs beneath. Thesprings may be adjusted for varying tensions and the amount of tensionmay be indicated by slots in the flanges with pins extending through theslots to show the position of the springs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective viewillustrating the two foot supporting carriages mounted on the upper faceof the base;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through one of the foot supporting carriagesand the base generally on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the end portion of one of the footsupporting carriages;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the mechanism on the undersurface of thebase;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan views illustrating certain positions of the twocarriages.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings,10 designates generally the base which consists of a deck plate 11 fromwhich "ice side flanges 12 and end flanges 13 extend downwardly toprovide a hollow under portion which houses certain of the mechanism ofthe apparatus and support the deck 11 spaced above the floor. Alsoextending downwardly from the deck 11 there is a cylindrical tubularbearing member 14, there being two of these generally positioned on thecentral lengthwise line of the base and spaced from each other so as tobe near the ends of the base.

Two foot supporting carriages (see FIG. 2) each consist of a bar 21having a spindle 22 secured to its underside by a threaded screw 23,this spindle 22 extending into the bearing 14 to be pivotally mountedtherein. A spacer 24 holds the bar above the deck 11. At the oppositeends of the bar 21 there are mounted means for laterally confining thefoot and centralizing the same on the bar which are designated 25 andare shown in greater detail in FIG. 3. These means 25 comprise a pair ofarms 26 each formed with a channel 27, one channel facing upwardly andthe other channel facing downwardly so as to receive the bar 21 in thespace formed between them. Blocks 29 and 30 are located on the upperface of the upper member 26 while bolts 31 extend through the blocks andboth members 26 so as to draw the members 26 toward each other to gripthe bar 21 and secure the blocks to the upper members 26. Nuts 32 arelocated in channels 33 of a width to prevent the nuts 32 from turningand so that the threads 34 of the bolts 31 may be turned by a slottedhead 35 to provide the tightening action. By this arrangement the blocks29 and 30 may be arranged at a desired angle to each other and they maybe moved along the slots 36 toward and from each other for desiredadjustment. Likewise, the members 26 may be moved along the bar 21 sothat the desired length distance of a foot may be accommodated. Bothcarriages 20 are essentially the same.

Arcuate slots 40 and 41 are provided on either side of the bearing 14 toreceive pins 42 and 43 which are secured to bar 21 by screws 44 and 45.Thus, as the bar 21 swings on its pivot, the pins 42 and 43 will swingin the arcuate slots 40 and 41.

Beneath the deck 11 an arm having a hub 51 is pivotally mounted on theouter surface of the bearing 14. The pin 42 is of such a length as toengage this arm when moving in slot 40 toward the nearest flange 13.Also there is an arm 52 mounted by its hub 53 on the outer surface ofthis bearing 14. Pin 43 is of such a length as to engage the arm 52 whenmoving in slot 41 toward the nearest flange 13. A spring 55 is securedto the end 56 of arm 52 while the other end of the spring is secured toa nut 57 threadedly engaging the shaft 58 which extends through theflange 13 and has a handle 59 with a hub 60 engaging the outer surfaceof the flange so that the tension of the spring may be varied. A pin 61secured to the nut 57 extends through a slot 62 in the flange 12 so asto indicate by the indicia 63 the tension of the spring.

A spring 65 is similarly attached to the end 66 of arm 50 and may besimilarly attached by a nut to shaft 67 and its tension adjusted byhandle 68 with its hub 69 engaging flange 13, the tension being observedby pin 70 indicating through slot 71.

Stops 72 limit the movement of the arms 50 and 52 under action of thesprings 55, 65 while the elbow shape of the arms 50, 52 provide anabutment 73 to engage the flange 13 and limit the movement of the armsin the 0pposite direction. The other foot supporting carriage issimilarly spring controlled by springs 55 and 65'. A plate supports hubs51 and 53 in position and is held on the spindle 22 by a spring ring 81in a recess in the spindle.

By this arrangement as a carriage is pivoted in one direction one of thepins urges an arm to pull on a spring beneath the deck of the baseresisting such pivotal movement, while the other pin of the carriagemoves freely without being restrained by spring action whereas when thecarriage is pivoted in the other direction, the previ ously free-movingin presses against its arm to cause a tension on the spring connected tosuch arm While the first-mentioned pin moves freely in its slot. Also aseach of the foot carriages is independent of the other, the feet may beplaced in a parallel position and pivoted to move the heels toward eachother or away from each other, while at the same time the toes may beswung away from each other or toward each other or if it is preferredboth feet may be moved either clockwise or counterclockwise with thieraxes maintaining a generally parallel relation, and by this arrangementall of the torsional action of the feet and legs may be assumed eithertogether or separately or oppositely as is desired against the resistivemovement of springs which may be set for a light tension to begin withbut tightened up as the muscles are strengthened to apply a greaterresistive movement.

I claim:

1. A device for simulating the conditions of actual skiing comprising abase, a pair of generally parallel spindles supported by said base androtatably mounted on axes generally perpendicular to said base, a footsupporting carriage secured to each spindle, arms each pivotally mountedon said base, a spring connected to each arm, means connecting eachcarriage to one of said arms to move the arm against the action of thespring connected thereto, said carriage is on one side of the base andsaid arms and springs are on the other side of said base, said base isprovided with arcuate slots and the means connecting said carriage andarms comprises pins extending through said slots.

2. A device as in claim 1 wherein said arms are pivotally mountedco-axial with said spindles.

3. A device as in claim 1 wherein means are provided to vary the tensionof each spring.

4. A device as in claim 1 with means to pre-stress said spring.

5. A device as in claim 1 with adjustable means on the said footsupporting carriages for securely holding the different sized feet ofthe users.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,206,902 7/ 1940 Kost 272572,230,033 1/1941 Hackett 27257 3,374,782 3/1968 Izzo 27257 RICHARD C.PINKHAM, Primary Examiner R. W. DIAZ, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl.X.R. 27283

